No matter the period or place, the religion or ideology, fraud and forgery have been employed by individuals, institutions, and sovereign governments to win wealth, power, and triumph, taking full advantage of man's capacity for believing almost anything. Illustrated with photos, artifacts, and reproductions of art, this book chronicles 50 historical whoppers and their perpetrators, in such chapters as "Jesus' Kid Brother: Hong Xiuquan"; "Get-Poor-Quick Scammer: Charles Ponzi"; "Fooling Hitler: Operation Fortitude"; "The Real-Life Da Vinci Code: The Dossiers Secret"; and "Come and See What's on the Slab: Alien Autopsy."